Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Pound Cake

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup ricotta cheese, left to stand at room temperature for a few minutes to take the chill off
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C). Butter the inside of a 9x5-inch loaf pan. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together well. Rinse the blueberries, then toss them with a little flour so they’re lightly coated; this helps them stay put instead of dropping to the bottom of the cake. With an electric mixer, beat the butter, ricotta, and sugar on high speed for 3 minutes, until the mixture is light, pale, and fluffy. You can do this by hand, but the mixer really does the better job here.
2. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating on medium speed for 1 minute after each one goes in. Mix in the lemon zest and vanilla extract. If the batter looks a bit curdled, don’t panic — it’s just looking dramatic.
3. Take the bowl off the mixer and stir in the dry ingredients in 3 or 4 additions, mixing only until they’re just worked in. Don’t over mix. Fold in the blueberries.
4. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Set the pan on a baking sheet and place it on the middle oven rack; this helps even out the heat at the bottom of the pan.
5. Bake at 325 degrees F (160 degrees C) for 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out mostly clean, or the top of the cake springs back gently when you press the center with your fingers and lift them away. After the first 40 minutes of baking, you may want to lay a sheet of aluminum foil over the pan to keep the top from browning more.
6. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a dull knife around the edge to loosen it from the pan.
7. Carefully take the cake out of the pan and let it cool completely on a wire rack. Let it cool completely before slicing.